Knebworth Masters is hopefully the final word on Led Zeppelin’s first Knebworth show in 1979. A little bit of footage from this show circulated for almost twenty years, from the Swan Song video for “Hot Dog” and for a two-song fragment, “Ten Years Gone” and “Heartbreaker,” being taken from the Atlantic Records 40th Anniversary show in 1988. After the footage was utilized on the official DVD in 2003, the entire concert surfaced thanks to Watchtower on the two DVD set Secrets Revealed.

Watchtower was pricey and hard to find however. A more viable option wasThe First Night (Boogie Mama) released soon afterwards. Boogie Mama utilized DVD9 dual layer disc technology to fit the entire show onto one disc. But is also had some issues with pixelation in the darker pictures on the video.

Knebworth Masters claims to be from the master video which may be true. Unlike the other two prior titles, the pictures is almost perfect all the way through the entire show. The colors are a bit off in some of the brighter moments but overall the picture is sharp, detailed, colorful and very lively making the two and a half performance a joy to watch. Since the video was geared for the large screens above the stage to give those sitting in the back a view of the action, the shots favor intense close ups of faces, fingers, guitars and pianos. It is funny to see some of the strange faces Jimmy Page and Robert Plant make to one another, a subtly probably missed by much of the audience that night.

The bonus material on disc three includes 8mm footage of the event, a BBC radio report by DJ Tommy Vance and several “works in progress” footage of “Rock And Roll” and “Heartbreaker” from several angels. It works well as a bonus to give one a historical context in enjoying the show and to hear what the press were speculating regarding Zeppelin’s Knebworth shows. This three DVD set now stands as the definitive version of this video.

The importance of these shows is best summed up by author Dave Lewis, who wrote: “For many in attendance it was their first ever concert experience. For many it would be the only time that they would get to see Zeppelin perform live. For that reason alone it holds a special affection in their live history. The first show in particular, with so much riding on it, was perhaps the most important they ever played.” (Led Zeppelin: Celebration II: The ‘Tight But Loose’ Files).

The two warm up shows in Copenhagen revealed a band who were not quite ready to headline such massive events, a point that Robert Plant stated shortly after the two when he said: “Knebworth was useless. It was no good at all. It was no good because we weren’t ready to do it, the whole thing was a management decision. It felt like I was cheating myself because I wasn’t as relaxed as I could have been. There was so much expectation there and the least we could have done was to have been confident enough to kill. We maimed the beast for life, but we didn’t kill it. It was good, but only because everybody made it good. There was that sense of event.”

Journalist Chris Welch, fifteen years afterwards, observed: “Fans [at Knebworth] were still supporting the band, but there was definitely a feeling [Led Zeppelin’s] days were numbered. Audience reaction at Knebworth had not been overwhelming and many seemed content to stand and stare, like mesmerized spectators at an alien ritual, a far cry from the hysteria of earlier shows. Robert Plant seemed perplexed at the silence between songs, when you could practically hear a pin drop in that vast, cold field. It wasn’t until he led the way into ‘Stairway to Heaven’ and ‘Trampled Underfoot’ that roars of appreciation began to echo around Knebworth. Robert’s only comment at the end of the last show was a guarded ‘It’s been quite good.'” The soundboard tapes caused a general re-evaluation of the event which was given another boost when much of the August 4th show was used on the official Led Zeppelin DVD.

The video tape begins with the pre-show canned music before “The Song Remains The Same” and “Celebration Day” both sounding very intense and afterwards Plant sounds very excited greeting an audience in England for many years: “Well, I said Well. ah ah. I said Well. Good evening. Good evening. It’s nice to see you again. I told Pagey that one or two people would be here, but he said he doubted it very much. Well I can’t tell you how it feels. I think you can probably, you’ve got a good idea anyway, but it’s great.”

“Black Dog” in 1979 sounds very light and punkish compared to versions in the past. “Nobody’s Fault But Mine” is referred to as the time they “went to Munich and made an album called Presence which had a track on it Charles Schaar Murray really liked…he’s still taking the pills.”

One of the highlights of the show is “No Quarter” where Plant introduces John Paul Jones as “the man from Casablanca…some say a man in his own right, other say Royal Orleans” because of his white suit. At eighteen minutes long, Jones plays a tasteful solo on the electric piano recalling the same unified vision of the Earls Court performances capped off by one of the best solos by Page of the evening. “Ten Years Gone” is also tight. This is also the final time it is played live by Led Zeppelin since it will be dropped the following week.

Before “Hot Dog” Plant addresses all the people who came, from “Comharden, Newcastle, Birmingham, Kidderminster, Freddie Bannister” and laments the delay of the new album, “so the album that came out two weeks ago unfortunately got delayed again. First it was a fortnight ago, and then it was a week ago, now it’s next Friday. It just goes on and on and on. This is a track from it that we should dedicate to trials in America.” He is surprised that people know the title already, “How come you know what it’s called? You’ve been reading about the Swedish and the Danish, hey?”

After the tepid performance he becomes defensive, saying “Yes, still got a sense of humor….So we got all the way here, and now the equipment blows up. Never mind. It’s got to be better than Earls Court. Who’s the person who owned that goat and the little wagon that we saw out there two nights ago, camping out there? Just come round the back with us afterwards, and write an acoustic set with us.”

The guitar solo before “In The Evening” is a bit longer than in Copenhagen with the same fanfare Page used on the 1977 tour. The Götterdammerung introduction is very effective as a prelude to the new track which has its rough patches but is a great live vehicle. Before the final number Plant thanks the crowd for coming, saying “well all you people who’ve come so far, it’s been like a blind date, if you like. We’ve even loosened up and laughing. This is a song I guess we should …so many people who’ve helped us over the years, and no people more important that yourselves who come here on a blind date. This is for you.”

There is no editing in the tape after “Stairway To Heaven” so several minutes of chanting and cheering in audible before the encore set. Each of the Copenhagen shows received one, but both Knebworth shows got three. “Rock And Roll” is the first and following which the crowd serenade the band with “You’ll Never Walk Alone.” Plant joins and in twenty years afterwards, in an article in Mojo magazine, Page is quoted saying, “there were tears in the eyes” during that event.

“Whole Lotta Love” is played in the same arrangement premiered in the second Copenhagen show and although Page stumbles at bit in the transition from first verse to middle, comes off fine and “Heartbreaker” closes what is one of the most important gigs in Zeppelin’s career. Plant’s assessment is correct. It is a very good and professional performance that hints at their former prowess but their two year layoff is all too apparent.

As far as this release is concerned it is somewhat better than the Watch Tower and EV releases – bonus footage is also nice. But it is the same or similar source as other releases – a touch clearer but my no means a huge upgrade.

I wanted to respond to ZEP77’s comment concerning a nice 1977 video release; particularly to a definitive Seattle, July 17, 1977. I own two versions of this show…. the “Definitive” DVD release on Empress Valley (5.1 MONO surround sound) and “Seattle Supersonic” on Genuine Masters. Both are very, very good and the audio on both releases have been “beefed up” to give the thin sounding soundboard/video soundtrack more depth and high end, providing a “fuller” sound. However, both titles lack in video quality. I hope that the master videos and audios of these two shows are released someday. Like ZEPP77, I’m a huge fan of the 1977 shows and hope that audio and video of both Seattle and Houston are released someday. With that being said, I know that the video of Los Angeles, June 21, 1977 exists because “The Song Remains the Same” is on the official DVD release using Millard’s audience tape as the audio. If I’m correct, I hope the soundtrack/audience “matrix”, similar to Knebworth, will be released with the video master from this famous show. This would be an awesome 1977 audio and video presentation.

this seems to be the release to get just for the noted near broadcast quality video.

I would like to see a release like this for their 1977 Seattle video – “Seattle Masters” if you will. I have a few versions on vhs/dvd and the picture quality is just ok. Where is the master tape that VH1 had when they made the documentary??

Unless another 1977 video is put into circulation, I’d much rather watch Seattle then Knebworth.

This is a superb title providing Led Zeppelin collectors with excellent audio and video of this famous show. The audio “matrix” effect is a really nice touch. It provides the collector with a deep, rich sound that seems to fill the room. Prior to this release, the only version I owned was the DVD-R release by Genuine Masters. In my opinion, this “no label” release is superior to the Genuine Masters title in both audio and video quality. It is highly enjoyable and I would recommend it to any collector.

I do not have this title and have no plans to get it because I got the definitive version years ago. It was, and is, the dual production by Blue Congo and Winston Remasters called Thanks for Eleven Years. That’s what Winston Remasters called its audience/soundboard matrix before Secrets Revealed came out from Watchtower. That audio matrix was then synched to Secrets Revealed in the Blue Congo / WR collaboration. Hearsay’s informed me that the audio on this no label DVD production is Winston Remasters’ matrix. If it’s true that Winston’s killer audio was used for this release, and if the video’s any improvement over prior efforts like EVSD’s, this seems like a great title to get. That is, if you didn’t get the original Blue Congo / Winston Remasters masterpiece.

A while ago a title was released ( the name escapes me ) containing BOTH nights at Knebworth. How does the quality on that one compares to this one? Wouldn’t it be a good buy to have both shows on a same package??

Worth to mention ia also perfectly mixed sound: an edit between superb sounding audience tape and soundboard – it giving us an extremely clear and surrounded perspective of being there. I do not know much about DVD production but I assume they spreaded entire show on 3 discs because of superb audio-video mix that requiring a large space to fit everything in proper quality.

Although I love silver boot titles and hate to discourage them in this day and age, I must warn those who enter…. rant ahead: In some ways isn’t this release just as much of a collector’s milking as the “pricey” Watchtower 2DVD title? And “in this day and age” shouldn’t DVD-9 dual layer format be the norm? Or shall we milk the collectors for one additional disc? I’m afraid it’s the latter… Definitive… perhaps… but tag on that superfluous extra disc…. perhaps yes! And I don’t mean the 3rd DVD… a complete document of the event is OK I guess…. I’m just sayin’ that this should have been a 2DVD set max (to spell it out 1 DVD-9 + 1 DVD). Done rant.